Sea Fever by John Masefield - Poetry Reading - YouTube Sea Fever by John Masefield - Poetry Reading Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading... Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Mar 19, 2013 Sea Fever - A poem by John Masefield. I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking. I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. About The Poem - Salt-Water Poems and Ballads includes "Sea-Fever" and "Cargoes", two of Masefield's best known poems. "Sea-Fever" first appeared in Salt-Water Ballads -- Masefield's first volume of poetry published in 1902 in London by Grant Richards. In The Collected Poems of John Masefield the opening line was changed to the text now more commonly anthologised: "I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky". The first lines of the second and third stanzas retained the form "I must down to the seas again. "Sea-Fever" has been set to music by many composers, the most famous version is by John Ireland.

About The Poet - John Edward Masefield (1878 -- 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967. He was born in Herefordshire, England. Many of Masefield's short poems were set as art songs by British composers of the time. For more videos log onto Also find us on Facebook at Subscribe & Stay Tuned - John Masefield - John Masefield Poems - Poem Hunter John Masefield - John Masefield Poems - Poem Hunter Do you like this poet? John Masefield Poems Sea Fever I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea... Cargoes QUINQUIREME of Nineveh from distant Ophir, Rowing ... On Growing Old Be with me, Beauty, for the fire is dying; ... A Creed I HOLD that when a person dies His soul returns ... A Ballad Of John Silver We were schooner-rigged and rakish, ... Beauty I HAVE seen dawn and sunset on moors and windy hills ...

A Wanderer's Song A WIND'S in the heart of me, a fire's in my... Search in the poems of John Masefield: If you see a poem only with title, it is listed that way because of copyright reasons. John Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967. He is remembered as the author of the classic children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and poems, including "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever". Life Early Life Masefield was born in Ledbury in Herefordshire, to Caroline and George Masefield, a solicitor. His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was only six, and he went to live with his aunt. His father died soon after following a mental breakdown. After an unhappy education at the King's School in Warwick (now known... more » Click here to add this poet to your My Favorite Poets.

Quotations John Masefield Analysis - eNotes.com John Masefield Analysis link Link John Masefield in 1935 Published by Salem Press, Inc. John Masefield is noted for his lyric and narrative poetry, and because of poems such as “Sea Fever” and “Cargoes,” he will continue to be read. For more than sixty years, however, he was prolific in many other genres as well. Between 1902 and 1966, Masefield wrote more than forty volumes of poetry or verse plays and more than twenty novels, in addition to short stories, essays, reviews, biographies, historical works, addresses, and prefaces, totaling about fifty books in all. Masefield’s first book of verse was Salt-Water Ballads (1902), and his narrative poem The Everlasting Mercy (1911) caused a sensation with its realistic diction.

Masefield wrote eight other book-length narrative poems, the most important being The Window in the Bye Street (1912), The Daffodil Fields (1913), Reynard the Fox: Or, The Ghost Heath Run (1919), Right Royal (1920), and King Cole (1921). His sea poems and ballads are about the life of the common sailor, and his narrative verse describes the lot of the rural folk of the Malvern Hills in his native Herefordshire. Masefield’s fiction is varied and uneven; his most popular and successful novels were his books about the sea and strange lands, written in the vein of Joseph Conrad and Robert Louis Stevenson—tales such as Captain Margaret (1908), The Bird of Dawning (1933), and Victorious Troy (1935). Although not a great critic, Masefield was a thoroughly professional man of letters who turned out well-focused articles and reviews by the hundreds, as well as book-length studies.

In the field of history, Masefield gave accounts of World War I debacles in Gallipoli (1916) and The Battle of the Somme (1919). He told the story of the evacuation of Dunkirk in The Nine Days’ Wonder (1941). In addition, Masefield wrote about maritime history in Sea Life in Nelson’s Time (1905), On the Spanish Main (1906), and The Conway from Her Foundation to the Present Day (1933). Masefield’s autobiographical works include In the Mill (1941), New Chum (1944), So Long to Learn (1952), and Grace Before Ploughing (1966). More Content: Analysis (hide) John Masefield : Read Poems by Poet John Masefield Country: England John Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967.

He is remembered as the author of the classic children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and poems, including "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever". Life Early Life Masefield was born in Ledbury in Herefordshire, to Caroline and George Masefield, a solicitor. His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was only six, and he went to live with his aunt. His father died soon after following a mental breakdown. After an unhappy education at the King's School in Warwick (now known as Warwick School), where he was a boarder between 1888 and 1891, he left to board the HMS Conway, both to train for a life at sea, and to break his addiction to reading, of which his aunt thought little. He spent several years aboard this ship and found that he could spend much of his time reading and writing. It was aboard the Conway that Masefield's love for story-telling grew. While on the ship, he listened to the stories told about sea lore. He continued to read, and felt that he was to become a writer and story teller himself.

In 1894, Masefield boarded the Gilcruix, destined for Chile - this first voyage bringing him the experience of sea sickness. He recorded his experiences while sailing through the extreme weather, his journal entries reflecting a delight in seeing flying fish, porpoises, and birds, and was awed by the beauty of nature, including a rare sighting of a nocturnal rainbow on his voyage. On reaching Chile, Masefield suffered from sunstroke and was hospitalized. He eventually returned home to England as a passenger aboard a steam ship. In 1895, Masefield returned to sea on a windjammer destined for New York City. However, the urge to become a writer and the hopelessness of life as a sailor overtook him, and in New York, he deserted ship. He lived as a vagrant for several months, before returning to New York City, he did many odd jobs, finding work as an assistant to a bar keeper. Sometime around Christmas in 1895, Masefield read the December 1895 edition of Truth, a New York periodical, which contained the poem "The Piper of Arll" by Duncan Campbell Scott.

Ten years later, Masefield wrote to Scott to tell him what reading that poem had meant to him: "I had never (till that time) cared very much for poetry, but your poem impressed me deeply, and set me on fire. Since then poetry has been the one deep influence in my life, and to my love of poetry I owe all my friends, and the position I now hold." I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking. I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

“” From "Sea-Fever", in Salt-Water Ballads (1902) For the next two years, Masefield was employed in a carpet factory, where long hours were expected and conditions were far from ideal. He purchased up to 20 books a week, and devoured both modern and classical literature. His interests at this time were diverse and his reading included works by George du Maurier, Dumas, Thomas Browne, Hazlitt, Dickens, Kipling, and R. L. Stevenson. Chaucer also became very important to him during this time, as well as poetry by Keats and Shelley. He eventually returned home to England in 1897 as a passenger aboard a steam ship. When Masefield was 23, he met his future wife, Constance Crommelin, who was 35. Educated in classics and English Literature, and a mathematics teacher, Constance was a match for Masefield despite the difference in age. The couple had two children (Judith, born in 1904, and Lewis, in 1910).

By 24, Masefield's poems were being published in periodicals and his first collected works, Salt-Water Ballads (1902) was published, the poem "Sea-Fever" appearing in this book. Masefield then wrote the novels, Captain Margaret (1908) and Multitude and Solitude (1909). In 1911, after a long drought of poem writing, he composed "The Everlasting Mercy", the first of his narrative poems, and within the next year, Masefield had produced two more, "The Widow in the Bye Street" and "Dauber". As a result, Masefield became widely known to the public and was praised by critics, and in 1912, he was awarded the annual Edmond de Polignac prize.

World War I to appointment as Poet Laureate When World War I began, though old enough to be exempted from military service, Masefield joined the staff of a British hospital for French soldiers, Hôpital Temporaire d'Arc-en-Barrois, Haute-Marne, France, serving briefly in 1915 as a hospital orderly, later publishing his own account of his experiences. After returning home, Masefield was invited to the United States on a three month lecture tour. Although Masefield's primary purpose was to lecture on English Literature, a secondary purpose was to collect information on the mood and views of Americans regarding the war in Europe. When he returned to England, he submitted a report to the British Foreign Office, and suggested that he be allowed to write a book about the failure of the allied efforts in the Dardanelles, which possibly could be used in the US in order to counter what he thought was German propaganda there. As a result, Masefield wrote Gallipoli. This work was a success, encouraging the British people, and lifting them somewhat from the disappointment they had felt as a result of the Allied losses in the Dardanelles.

Due to the success of his wartime writings, Masefield met with the head of British Military Intelligence in France and was asked to write an account of the Battle of the Somme. Although Masefield had grand ideas for his book, he was denied access to the official records, and therefore, what was to be his preface to the book was published as "The Old Front Line", a description of the geography of the Somme area. In 1918, Masefield returned to America on his second lecture tour. Masefield spent much of his time speaking and lecturing to American soldiers waiting to be sent to Europe. These speaking engagements were very successful, and on one occasion, a battalion of all black soldiers danced and sang for him after his talk. During this tour, he matured as a public speaker and realized his ability to touch the emotions of his audience with his style of speaking, learning to speak publicly with his own heart, rather than from dry scripted speeches. Towards the end of his trip, both Yale and Harvard Universities conferred honorary Doctorates of Letters on him. Masefield entered the 1920s as an accomplished and respected writer.

His family was able to settle on Boar's Hill, a somewhat rural setting not far from Oxford, and Masefield took up beekeeping, goat-herding and poultry-keeping. He continued to meet with success, the 1923 edition of "Collected Poems" selling approximately 80,000 copies. He produced three poems early in this decade. The first was Reynard The Fox, a poem that has been critically compared with works of Geoffrey Chaucer. This was followed by Right Royal and King Cole, poems where the relationship of humanity and nature emphasized. While Reynard is the best known of these, all met with acclaim. After King Cole Masefield turned away from the long poem and back to the novel, and from 1924 till the Second World War published twelve novels, which vary from stories of the sea (The Bird of Dawning, Victorious Troy) to social novels about modern England (The Hawbucks, The Square Peg), and from tales of an imaginary land in Central America (Sard Harker, Odtaa) to fantasies for children (The Midnight Folk, The Box of Delights).

This variety in genre testifies most impressively to the breadth of his imagination, though it probably reduced his sales (which remained very respectable, however), since most readers of novels like knowing what to expect from their favourite authors. In this same period he wrote a large number of dramatic pieces. Most of these were based on Christian themes, and Masefield, to his amazement, encountered a ban on the performance of plays on biblical subjects that went back to the Reformation and had been revived a generation earlier to prevent production of Oscar Wilde's Salome. However, a compromise was reached, and in 1928 his "The Coming of Christ" was the first play to be performed in an English Cathedral since the Middle Ages. In 1921, Masefield received an Honorary Doctorate of Literature from Oxford University, and in 1923, organized the Oxford Recitations, an annual contest whose purpose was "to discover good speakers of verse and to encourage ‘the beautiful speaking of poetry.’" The Recitations were seen as a success given the numbers of contest applicants, the promotion of natural speech in poetical recitations, and the number of people learning how to listen to poetry.

Masefield began to question however, whether the Recitations should continue as a contest, believing that the event should become more of a festival. In 1929, Masefield broke with the contest concept, and the Recitations came to an end. Later Years and Death In 1930, on the death of Robert Bridges, a new Poet Laureate was needed. Many felt that Rudyard Kipling was a likely choice, however, upon the recommendation of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, King George V appointed Masefield, who remained in office until his death in 1967. The only person to remain in the office for a longer period was Tennyson. On his appointment The Times newspaper said of him his poetry could touch to beauty the plain speech of everyday life In 1932, Masefield was commissioned to write a poem to be set to music by the Master of the King's Musick, Sir Edward Elgar and performed by choir and orchestra at the unveiling of the Queen Alexandra Memorial by the King on 8 June 1932. For this he wrote the ode "So many true Princesses who have gone".

Although the requirements of Poet Laureate had changed, and those in the office were rarely required to write verse for special occasions, Masefield took his appointment seriously and produced a large quantity of verse. Poems composed in his official capacity were sent to The Times. Masefield's humility was shown by his inclusion of a stamped envelope with each submission so that his composition could be returned if it were found unacceptable for publication. "Sonnet" John Masefield - John Masefield Biography - Poem Hunter John Masefield - John Masefield Biography - Poem Hunter Biography Biography of John Masefield John Edward Masefield, OM, was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1930 until his death in 1967. He is remembered as the author of the classic children's novels The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights, and poems, including "The Everlasting Mercy" and "Sea-Fever". Life Early Life Masefield was born in Ledbury in Herefordshire, to Caroline and George Masefield, a solicitor. His mother died giving birth to his sister when Masefield was only six, and he went to live with his aunt.

His father died soon after following a mental breakdown. After an unhappy education at the King's School in Warwick (now known as Warwick School), where he was a boarder between 1888 and 1891, he left to board the HMS Conway, both to train for a life at sea, and to break his addiction to reading, of which his aunt thought little. He spent several years aboard this ship and found that he could spend much of his time reading and writing. It was aboard the Conway that Masefield's love for story-telling grew. While on the ship, he listened to the stories told about sea lore. He continued to read, and felt that he was to become a writer and story teller himself. In 1894, Masefield boarded the Gilcruix, destined for Chile - this first voyage bringing him the experience of sea sickness. He recorded his experiences while sailing through the extreme weather, his journal entries reflecting a delight in seeing flying fish, porpoises, and birds, and was awed by the beauty of nature, including a rare sighting of a nocturnal rainbow on his voyage. On reaching Chile, Masefield suffered from sunstroke and was hospitalized.

He eventually returned home to England as a passenger aboard a steam ship. In 1895, Masefield returned to sea on a windjammer destined for New York City. However, the urge to become a writer and the hopelessness of life as a sailor overtook him, and in New York, he deserted ship. He lived as a vagrant for several months, before returning to New York City, he did many odd jobs, finding work as an assistant to a bar keeper. Sometime around Christmas in 1895, Masefield read the December 1895 edition of Truth, a New York periodical, which contained the poem "The Piper of Arll" by Duncan Campbell Scott. Ten years later, Masefield wrote to Scott to tell him what reading that poem had meant to him: "I had never (till that time) cared very much for poetry, but your poem impressed me deeply, and set me on fire.

Since then poetry has been the one deep influence in my life, and to my love of poetry I owe all my friends, and the position I now hold." I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking. I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. “” From "Sea-Fever", in Salt-Water Ballads (1902) For the next two years, Masefield was employed in a carpet factory, where long hours were expected and conditions were far from ideal. He purchased up to 20 books a week, and devoured both modern and classical literature.

His interests at this time were diverse and his reading included works by George du Maurier, Dumas, Thomas Browne, Hazlitt, Dickens, Kipling, and R. L. Stevenson. Chaucer also became very important to him during this time, as well as poetry by Keats and Shelley. He eventually returned home to England in 1897 as a passenger aboard a steam ship. When Masefield was 23, he met his future wife, Constance Crommelin, who was 35. Educated in classics and English Literature, and a mathematics teacher, Constance was a match for Masefield despite the difference in age. The couple had two children (Judith, born in 1904, and Lewis, in 1910). By 24, Masefield's poems were being published in periodicals and his first collected works, Salt-Water Ballads (1902) was published, the poem "Sea-Fever" appearing in this book. Masefield then wrote the novels, Captain Margaret (1908) and Multitude and Solitude (1909).

In 1911, after a long drought of poem writing, he composed "The Everlasting Mercy", the first of his narrative poems, and within the next year, Masefield had produced two more, "The Widow in the Bye Street" and "Dauber". As a result, Masefield became widely known to the public and was praised by critics, and in 1912, he was awarded the annual Edmond de Polignac prize. World War I to appointment as Poet Laureate When World War I began, though old enough to be exempted from military service, Masefield joined the staff of a British hospital for French soldiers, Hôpital Temporaire d'Arc-en-Barrois, Haute-Marne, France, serving briefly in 1915 as a hospital orderly, later publishing his own account of his experiences. After returning home, Masefield was invited to the United States on a three month lecture tour. Although Masefield's primary purpose was to lecture on English Literature, a secondary purpose was to collect information on the mood and views of Americans regarding the war in Europe.

When he returned to England, he submitted a report to the British Foreign Office, and suggested that he be allowed to write a book about the failure of the allied efforts in the Dardanelles, which possibly could be used in the US in order to counter what he thought was German propaganda there. As a result, Masefield wrote Gallipoli. This work was a success, encouraging the British people, and lifting them somewhat from the disappointment they had felt as a result of the Allied losses in the Dardanelles. Due to the success of his wartime writings, Masefield met with the head of British Military Intelligence in France and was asked to write an account of the Battle of the Somme. Although Masefield had grand ideas for his book, he was denied access to the official records, and therefore, what was to be his preface to the book was published as "The Old Front Line", a description of the geography of the Somme area. In 1918, Masefield returned to America on his second lecture tour. Masefield spent much of his time speaking and lecturing to American soldiers waiting to be sent to Europe.

These speaking engagements were very successful, and on one occasion, a battalion of all black soldiers danced and sang for him after his talk. During this tour, he matured as a public speaker and realized his ability to touch the emotions of his audience with his style of speaking, learning to speak publicly with his own heart, rather than from dry scripted speeches. Towards the end of his trip, both Yale and Harvard Universities conferred honorary Doctorates of Letters on him. Masefield entered the 1920s as an accomplished and respected writer. His family was able to settle on Boar's Hill, a somewhat rural setting not far from Oxford, and Masefield took up beekeeping, goat-herding and poultry-keeping. He continued to meet with success, the 1923 edition of "Collected Poems" selling approximately 80,000 copies. He produced three poems early in this decade. The first was Reynard The Fox, a poem that has been critically compared with works of Geoffrey Chaucer. This was followed by Right Royal and King Cole, poems where the relationship of humanity and nature emphasized. While Reynard is the best known of these, all met with acclaim.

After King Cole Masefield turned away from the long poem and back to the novel, and from 1924 till the Second World War published twelve novels, which vary from stories of the sea (The Bird of Dawning, Victorious Troy) to social novels about modern England (The Hawbucks, The Square Peg), and from tales of an imaginary land in Central America (Sard Harker, Odtaa) to fantasies for children (The Midnight Folk, The Box of Delights). This variety in genre testifies most impressively to the breadth of his imagination, though it probably reduced his sales (which remained very respectable, however), since most readers of novels like knowing what to expect from their favourite authors. In this same period he wrote a large number of dramatic pieces. Most of these were based on Christian themes, and Masefield, to his amazement, encountered a ban on the performance of plays on biblical subjects that went back to the Reformation and had been revived a generation earlier to prevent production of Oscar Wilde's Salome. However, a compromise was reached, and in 1928 his "The Coming of Christ" was the first play to be performed in an English Cathedral since the Middle Ages.

In 1921, Masefield received an Honorary Doctorate of Literature from Oxford University, and in 1923, organized the Oxford Recitations, an annual contest whose purpose was "to discover good speakers of verse and to encourage ‘the beautiful speaking of poetry.’" The Recitations were seen as a success given the numbers of contest applicants, the promotion of natural speech in poetical recitations, and the number of people learning how to listen to poetry. Masefield began to question however, whether the Recitations should continue as a contest, believing that the event should become more of a festival. In 1929, Masefield broke with the contest concept, and the Recitations came to an end. Later Years and Death In 1930, on the death of Robert Bridges, a new Poet Laureate was needed. Many felt that Rudyard Kipling was a likely choice, however, upon the recommendation of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, King George V appointed Masefield, who remained in office until his death in 1967. The only person to remain in the office for a longer period was Tennyson.

On his appointment The Times newspaper said of him his poetry could touch to beauty the plain speech of everyday life In 1932, Masefield was commissioned to write a poem to be set to music by the Master of the King's Musick, Sir Edward Elgar and performed by choir and orchestra at the unveiling of the Queen Alexandra Memorial by the King on 8 June 1932. For this he wrote the ode "So many true Princesses who have gone". Although the requirements of Poet Laureate had changed, and those in the office were rarely required to write verse for special occasions, Masefield took his appointment seriously and produced a large quantity of verse. Poems composed in his official capacity were sent to The Times. Masefield's humility was shown by his inclusion of a stamped envelope with each submission so that his composition could be returned if it were found unacceptable for publication. "Sonnet" Is there a great green commonwealth of Thought Which ranks the yearly pageant, and decides How Summer's royal progress shall be wrought, By secret stir which in each plant abides? Does rocking daffodil consent that she, 5 The snowdrop of wet winters, shall be first?

Does spotted cowslip with the grass agree To hold her pride before the rattle burst? And in the hedge what quick agreement goes, When hawthorn blossoms redden to decay, 10 That Summer's pride shall come, the Summer's rose, Before the flower be on the bramble spray? Or is it, as with us, unresting strife, And each consent a lucky gasp for life? “” "Sonnet", in The Story of a Round-House (1915) After his appointment, Masefield received the Order of Merit by King George V and many honorary degrees from British universities, in 1937 being elected as President of the Society of Authors. Masefield encouraged the continued development of English literature and poetry, and began the annual awarding of the Royal Medals for Poetry for a first or second published edition of poetry by a poet under the age of 35. Additionally, his speaking engagements were calling him further away, often on much longer tours, yet he still produced significant amounts of work in a wide variety of genres. To those he had already used he now added autobiography, producing New Chum, In the Mill, and So Long to Learn.

Some critics judged Masefield to be an even finer writer of prose than of verse. It was not until about the age of 70, that Masefield slowed his pace due to illness. In 1960, Constance died at 93, after long illness. Although her death was heartrending, he had spent a tiring year watching the woman he loved die. He continued his duties as Poet Laureate; In Glad Thanksgiving, his last book, was published when he was 88 years old. In late 1966, Masefield developed gangrene in his ankle. This spread to his leg, and he died of the infection on 12 May 1967. According to his wishes, he was cremated and his ashes placed in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey.

Later, the following verse was discovered, written by Masefield, addressed to his "Heirs, Administrators, and Assigns": Let no religious rite be done or read In any place for me when I am dead, But burn my body into ash, and scatter The ash in secret into running water, Or on the windy down, and let none see; And then thank God that there's an end of me. The Masefield Centre at Warwick School, which Masefield attended, and a high school in Ledbury, Herefordshire have been named in his honour. In 1977, Folkways Records released an album of his poetry, including some read by Masefield himself. Art song settings Many of Masefield's short poems were set as art songs by British composers of the time. Best known by far is John Ireland's "Sea Fever", the lasting popularity of which belies any mismatch between the urgency of the language and the slow, swung melody. Frederick Keel crafted several songs drawn from the Salt-Water Ballads and elsewhere. Of these, "Trade Winds" was particularly popular in its day, despite the tongue-twisting challenges the text presents to the singer.

Keel's defiant setting of "Tomorrow", written while interned at Ruhleben during World War I, was frequently programmed at the BBC Proms after the war. Another memorable wartime composition is Ivor Gurney's climactic declamation of "By a bierside", a setting quickly set down in 1916 during a brief spell behind the lines.

John Masefield's Works: The Story of a Round House and Other Poems (1915) Salt-Water Poems and Ballads (1916) Philip the King and Other Poems (1916) Lollingdon Downs and Other Poems with Sonnets (1917) Enslaved and Other Poems (1920) Selected Poems (1922) King Cole and Other Poems (1923) The Dream and Other Poems (1923) The Collected Poems of John Masefield (1923) Poems (1925) Midsummer Night and Other Tales in Verse (1928) A Letter from Pontus and Other Verse (1936) The Country Scene (1937) Some Verses to Some Germans (1939) The Bluebells and Other Verses (1961) Old Raiger and Other Verses (1964) Novels A Book of Discoveries (Date unknown) A Tarpaulin Muster (1907) Sea Fever Essay -- English Literature Good morning Miss Allison and class, the poem I chose is

 Sea Fever by John Masefield.

John Masefield, was only 22 years old when he wrote the simple yet moving lines in his poem 'Sea Fever'. He was born in 1878, in, England. Young Masefield wanted to be a merchant marine officer and at 13 he spent two and a half years on the school ship and afterwards was apprenticed aboard a sailing ship, bound for Chile. In Chile he became ill and left the sea and returned to England. In 1902 Masefield published his first volume of poems, 'Salt-Water Ballads' John Masefield's poem "Sea Fever" is a work of art that brings beauty to the English language through its use of rhythm, imagery and many complex figures of speech. Sea Fever is a classic, English poem about the poet’s strong longing to return to the sea. It is a description of a man who reflects on what his life used to be like when he was a sailor. In Stanza one, the man yearns to be sailing the oceans once again.

He remembers the solitude and the natural environment around him, such as the sky, with its stars to guide him in the right direction, as well as the wind that made his ship shake and its sail to billow. He also recalls the grey mist of the ocean. In stanza two, the man describes his yearning in stronger terms, when he describes the tide of the ocean as ‘a clear call that may not be denied’. The man also remembers various aspects associated with the sea, such as the white clouds moving in the sky, the foam and spray, as well as the sound of the sea gulls. Stanza three is a further description of the man’s life at the sea. He recalls his life as being similar to the wandering life of a gypsy. He remembers being at the helm of his sh... ... middle of paper ... ...ng or mood of each stanza. Firstly, a mood of solitude is expressed in this picture, through the tall ship, being isolated in the open seas, crossing storms, secluded from all civilisations. Secondly, a mood of deep yearning, hunger and frustration is depicted in this picture with the flung spray and the blown spume, being very important features in this picture.

This picture also shows the longing shared between the speaker and the ocean. Thirdly, in this picture, the mood of freedom and independence is reflected through the freedom of a whale and a sea gull. The colours I chose for this picture are very peaceful, with blues and greens and whites, showing the true calmness of the sea. The themes in "Sea Fever, the longing the speaker has for the sea and the comparison of life to a sea voyage, are also seen in the pictures I have displayed on my poster. Click the button above to view the complete essay, speech, term paper, or research paper Click the button above to view the complete essay, speech, term paper, or research paper John Masefield and Sea Fever - Old Salt BlogOld Salt Blog John Masefield and Sea Fever Posted on November 5, 2011 by Rick Spilman John Masefield 1913 I can’t decide whether I love or hate John Masefield ‘s poem Sea Fever. I lean strongly towards love, though the poem has been repeated so many times and in so many places, that it is hard not to groan every time it is recited anew.

Clichés often become clichés because they represent a fundamental truth. So it is with Sea Fever. You know the poem. The first lines are: I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by… I wonder what Masefield must have felt about Sea Fever. Did he have a love/hate relationship with it as well? The poem Sea Fever is Masefield’s best known work. It is recited everywhere from elementary school class rooms to yacht club bars. It lives on all over the internet and even in our vision of space. The poem was quoted twice by James T. Kirk, Captain of the Starship Enterprise, on the television series, Star Trek, and also appears in part on the dedication plaques of the USS Enterprise-A and the USS Defiant from the same program. Sea Fever is the subject of blogs , ballads and nautical merchandise . The phrase “tall ship” also originated with Sea Fever, though not everyone got the memo . Over his long and productive career, John Masefield wrote nineteen volumes of poetry, twenty three novels, five plays and seven works of non-fiction.

He served as the Poet Laureate of England from 1930 to his death in 1967. He wrote Sea Fever when he was only 24. It appeared in his first volume of poems, Salt Water Ballads, published in 1902. His writing career lasted 65 years. He won multiple awards and great public acclaim and yet he remains best known for a poem from his first book written in his early 20s. The magic of the poem Sea Fever is that is captures the intense lure of the sea that so many of us know or have known. How did Masefield manage to capture in three simple stanzas a longing that seems wholly universal among those who love the sea? Perhaps not surprisingly, his writing career and his understanding of the sea began on the decks of a square-rigger. John Masefield was the son of a solicitor. His mother died when he was six and his father died not long after. He was sent to live with his aunt and uncle.

In 1891, at the age of 13, his aunt sent him off to the school ship, HMS Conway , to train for a life at sea and to break his addiction to reading, which she considered to be unhealthy. His aunt’s plan failed miserably. On the Conway, Masefield had time for both reading and writing and fell in love with sailors’ sea stories. After graduating from the Conway, Masefield’s career at sea was short-lived. In 1894, he sailed as an apprentice on the Gilchrest, bound for Chile via Cape Horn. On his arrival, he was suffering from sun stroke and was hospitalized. He traveled home by steamer. In 1895, he again sailed on a square-rigger for New York, where he deserted, having chosen writing over seafaring as a career. I can only wonder whether Masefield grew tired of Sea Fever after six decades of being asked to recite it, or having it brought up in conversation. Had it become an annoyance or was it an old friend? In the next few days we will be reviewing Masefield’s second book, Sea Life In Nelson’s Time, published in 1905.

It has been widely influential and is equally loved and hated by readers on both sides of the Atlantic. Please follow and like us: Well……..I just HAVE to love it! 🙂 ~Mimi Foxmorton Sea Fever Tall Ship Poem - Coast Guard Cutter Eagle Poster B491 Sea Fever (Poem) "I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by." This is the opening line of John Masefield’s famous poem, Sea Fever. A "tall ship" is one characterized by high masts and great spreads of sail. Sea Fever was first published in 1902, and has since been loved by generations of sailors. The full text of the poem is superimposed over an original oil painting of the United States Coast Guard cutter Eagle. The 295-foot barque is the only actively commissioned steel-hull "tall ship" in American military service. During the summer months, the Coast Guard Academy uses it to train future officers. During the rest of the year, she is our nation’s good will ambassador and visits many foreign countries.

She often participates in "Tall Ship" regattas. Interesting, she began her career in 1936 as the Horst Wessel, a Nazi Germany training ship. World War I ended with the Treaty of Versailles, which prohibited Germany from having war ships. The engine, navigation station, bridge and other components of the Horst Wessell were identical to that of the U-boats then being secretly constructed. The ship was used to train the German submarine officers who would later sink many American ships. Following the defeat of Germany in World War II, the Horst Wessell was confiscated by the United States as war reparations, renamed Eagle, and assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard. She was the only Coast Guard ship not to have racing stripes, as the traditionalists maintained it will inconsistent with her historic design. However she the host ship of Operation Sail 1976, a coming together of tall ships from all over the world in New York harbor to celebrate the American Bicentennial. Eagle finally got her now-famous racing stripes. Status: Complete. Plans call for it to be published in 2015, along with the other titles in the new Maritime Heritage series.

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Question: Who wrote the 1902 poem Sea Fever?
Answer: JOHN MASEFIELD